NTSB – Page 2 – Professional Mariner

23 Apr

Internal corrosion of hoisting wire led reel to fall to OSV’s deck

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsNTSB, Offshore services, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — On April 3, 2025, about 2145 local time, the offshore construction vessel Island Venture’s crane was being used to lift a wire reel from the back deck of the offshore supply vessel C Enforcer in Bayou Lafourche, Port Fourchon, La. The crane’s hoisting wire parted, causing the reel to drop onto C Enforcer’s main deck. There were no…

17 Apr

Debris in water possible culprit in Ohio River barge breakaway

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty Newsbrownwater, NTSB, Tugboats and towing

(WASHINGTON) — On April 16, 2024, about 0445 local time, the barges MPC 907 and MPC 644 broke free from their moorings at the Marathon Petroleum Co. (MPC) terminal dock at mile 793.8 on the Ohio River, near Evansville, Ind. The two barges contacted mooring cells about 1,500 feet downstream at the TransMontaigne terminal at mile 794.1. The barges were…

10 Apr

Corroded cooling pipe cited for flooding aboard Oliver Hazard Perry

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsLicensing and training, NTSB, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — About 2200 on May 10, 2025, the sailing school vessel Oliver Hazard Perry started taking on water while moored at Fort Adams State Park dock in Newport, R.I. About 0730 the following morning, a crewmember was awoken by an alarm and discovered the flooding. An estimated 21,000 gallons of seawater entered the engine room and the forward auxiliary…

26 Mar

O-ring failure led to engine room fire on bulker in Alabama

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsNTSB, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — On Jan. 4, 2025, about 2323 local time, the bulk carrier Lem Verbena was docked at the Alabama State Docks on the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala., with 19 crewmembers on board when a fire started in the engine room. The crew activated the vessel’s carbon-dioxide fixed fire extinguishing system. Shoreside firefighters later determined the fire had been…

20 Mar

NTSB cites pilot’s ‘expectation bias’ in grounding of bulker

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsLicensing and training, NTSB, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — On Jan. 8, 2025, at 1813 local time, the dry bulk carrier Algoma Verity was transiting upbound on the Delaware River near Philadelphia, Pa., when it ran aground outside the channel. The vessel repositioned and continued its upbound transit, outside the channel, until it grounded again at 1828. Algoma Verity was refloated three days later. No pollution or…

12 Mar

Tanker pilot transposed tugboat positions, leading to pier strike

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsNTSB, Tugboats and towing, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — On Oct. 14, 2024, about 0412 local time, the crude oil tanker Platanos was undocking from the Martinez Refining Company wharf pier near Martinez, Calif., in the Carquinez Strait, when the vessel’s port quarter made contact with a concrete dolphin and a fender support panel of the pier. There were no injuries and no pollution was reported. Damage…

18 Feb

NTSB cites uncovered strainers in pier sinking of bulker Cuyahoga

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, NTSB

(WASHINGTON) — On March 18, 2025, about 1600 local time, the bulk carrier Cuyahoga was discovered partially flooded while docked on Lake Erie in Ashtabula, Ohio. There were no injuries and no pollution was reported. The vessel was dewatered and refloated. Salvage costs were undetermined; the vessel had previously been declared a constructive total loss as a result of extensive…

05 Feb

Crew seals generator space, contains fire aboard Lake Erie ATB

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, NTSB, Tugboats and towing

(WASHINGTON) — On Dec. 30, 2024, about 1609, the articulated tug-barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder, with a crew of 16, was anchored in Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio, when a fire broke out in the generator space of the barge Pathfinder. The crew sealed the space and released the vessel’s fixed gas fire extinguishing system, putting out the fire. There were no…

23 Jan

Undetermined ignition source cited in Delaware River towboat fire

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsNTSB, Tugboats and towing

(WASHINGTON) — On Feb. 18, 2025, at about 9:25 a.m., the towing vessel Thor was pushing two barges downbound on the Delaware River, 1.5 miles downriver of New Castle, Del., when a fire broke out in the engine room. Four crewmembers isolated the fire to the engine room and subsequently abandoned ship to a nearby tugboat. The fire was extinguished…

15 Jan

Tow breaks apart after barge takes on water, rapidly sinks

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty Newsbrownwater, NTSB, Tugboats and towing

(WASHINGTON) — On March 16, 2024, about 0008 local time, the towing vessel Chad Pregracke was transiting southbound on the Lower Mississippi River pushing 34 loaded barges near mile 260.6, about 5 miles east of New Roads, La. The barge PTC 706 at the head of the tow rapidly sank, causing the tow to break apart. Five barges in the…